Unwanted Piles of Corn, Soy Spur Most-Bearish Crop Outlook Ever
- Hedge funds expand short-positions as U.S. crop exports plunge
- Combined U.S. stockpiles are the biggest ever as prices tumble
Non-GMO corn is emptied from a truck at a storage site in Malden, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015. Corn exports by the U.S., the biggest producer, are running 28 percent behind last year's pace as a stronger dollar entices buyers to go elsewhere for cheaper supply.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergPiles of unwanted grain on farms near Doug Schmitz’s storage bins in southern Minnesota are a stark reminder of just how bearish the outlook is for U.S.crop prices.
After record yields during the harvest a few months ago, growers in the area still have 80 percent of their corn crop left to sell and 70 percent of soybeans, said Schmitz, who operates four grain elevators and markets to processors and exporters. Normally, half the supply would be unloaded by now, he said. While Schmitz Grain Inc. is under contract to collect 2 million bushels from local farmers, the outlook is so dim that most of that inventory hasn’t been priced yet, he said.